Berserk Hunter

The Berserk Hunter is the second boss in Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil, and the second of the three Hell Hunters encountered by the marine. It guards the monorail leading from Erebus Labs to Phobos labs. The Berserk Hunter has a sloth-like head, holes on its knuckles that hide large claws and has normal humanoid legs compared to the Hell knight's backwards-jointed goat-like legs. It is also noticeably larger than a Hell knight, and stands a full head taller. The Berserk Hunter is notable for its speed and ability to leap a great distance.

When the Berserk Hunter has been defeated, the Artifact will absorb the Hunter's Berserk power. A much more powerful version of the original Doom's berserk pack item pickup or Doom 3's Berserker, this power increases the damage inflicted by the player's weaponry and gives a huge damage boost to the player's fist attacks, to the point where even a Hell knight can be killed with one punch.

Combat characteristics
The Berserk Hunter's behavior is divided into two separate phases, its berserk phase and its "calm" phase, for want of a better term. It will invoke its berserk phase immediately as the battle begins. While berserk, it may perform a series of very fast leaping attacks towards the player; these leaps can cover a very long distance. It may also sprint directly towards the player to perform swift melee strikes. While it is in its berserk phase, its heart is exposed and is the Hunter's weak spot. After the monster has taken a certain amount of damage, or after a period of time even if it has not been harmed, the Hunter's berserk phase will end and it will return to its calm phase.

In its calm phase, the Hunter's chest will close so that its heart is no longer visible. During this phase, the Hunter will keep its distance from the player and will launch a series of fireballs in the player's direction. While in its calm phase, the Hunter cannot be harmed until it goes into its berserk phase again. It will usually re-enter its berserk phase after throwing three fireballs.

The player has infinite stamina during this battle, just the same as when the player is in Hell or fighting the cyberdemon near the Hell Hole in the caverns.

Tactical analysis
The Artifact is greatly helpful in this fight, allowing the player to more easily dodge the Hunter's attacks and target its vulnerable heart while it is in its berserk phase. Bearing in mind that the Hunter will invoke its berserk phase immediately before the battle begins, it is advisable to have the Artifact already equipped as you approach the battle. With your Artifact activated, you can target the Hunter's heart - the double-barrelled shotgun and chaingun are good options. After a certain amount of damage has been inflicted to its heart, you may notice your weapon's crosshairs no longer appear red, which indicates that the Hunter is entering its calm phase - in its calm phase, it is immune to your attacks.

While the Hunter is in its calm phase there is no point attacking it, so you should simply focus on dodging its projectiles, reloading your weapons if necessary, and collecting an Artifact charge from the corpses in the area. The Hunter's projectiles can be dodged by strafing, or by hiding behind one of the four pillars in the arena.

The overall process of dealing damage to the Hunter during its berserk phase and then waiting for it to become berserk again usually needs to be repeated three times, except when playing on Nightmare difficulty (see below)

Should you find yourself without Artifact charges, it is still possible to defeat the Hunter without using it, albeit with some difficulty. In this case, it would be wise to keep your distance as much as possible to avoid its leap attack, and use the machine gun. Alternatively, you can equip the double barrel shotgun and allow the Hunter to chase you around one of the four pillars until you have a clear shot at its heart.

The Hunter's fireballs do have quite a large radius of splash damage, so you should aim to keep well clear of where they are aimed. Furthermore, it is quite common for the fireballs to destroy the artifact charges around the arena if they land near the corpse. If you are concerned about running out of artifact charges, you can protect the corpses from the fireballs by intercepting them with the Ionized Plasma Levitator.

Nightmare difficulty
When playing on Nightmare difficulty, this battle is remarkably easy thanks to the fact the player's Artifact is already empowered with Berserk and Invulnerability as well as Helltime. Once the battle begins, it is a simple matter to activate the Artifact and punch the Hunter a few times to end the fight very quickly. Your Berserk fists are so powerful that you don't even need to attack its heart - repeated berserk-strength punches to its body will kill it in a matter of seconds, and you'll be invulnerable as you do so. You can even beat the Hunter to death with the flashlight if you are so inclined.